The Final Post (and other things).

So we've been back in the US for a week.  I think that this post (forgive me), is going to be one part summary, one part random thoughts, and one part advice.

The Monday before we left (we left Urubamba Tuesday night, and Lima Wednesday night), we had our despedida (going away party).  It was nice to see the people we worked with (Ameriko, Jaime), and all of our host families in one place.  Since it was our last night, at dinner Chris and I gave our host mom two framed pictures of our host brother as our goodbye gift.  She kissed one of the pictures, so I think we did good.

Our final day in Urubamba, Tuesday, we finished at 711 by giving all the classes new soccer and volley pelotas, and played some games with them.  After that, we were told to stick around for a bit.  6B gave us a cute speech on how much they appreciate what we've for them, how we'll be in their hearts, and how they're giving us gifts so we can remember them.  Each of the classes gave us a gift - 6A gave us each a money holder/satchel bag (handmade!), 6B gave us one too, and 6C gave us a beautiful ceramic bowl made in Urubamba.  It was really, really touching.  Also, 6B gave us a song on the environment, and on colors too!  See below. (videos are a little large, maybe I'll youtube it).

Figure 1: Confetti

Figure 2: handmade satchel

Even though they gave us gifts, and showered us with confetti (I swear I'm still finding it in my things), you gotta wonder - did we really do that much to help them?  I would like to think that yes, Emily and I made a significant change in their lives, they'll become more responsible with the environment, and they'll be role models in that aspect.  But you know what? I sort of doubt it - Urubamba's just not really a friendly place to be environmentally friendly.   I guess with a project like this, it's hard to really measure the progress you've made.  With stoves, you can count the number of stoves you've made, and say, "wow, I did a good job by making 'X' stoves."  With education, you just gotta give them a push and hope for the best.  Yes, a goodbye party is nice, and it is nice to know that we mean a lot to them, but really (and I'm being blunt here), did they like us because we taught them environmental science and English (and they liked it?), or did they like us because we represented a time away from their normal teachers?  I know that this past paragraph was really cynical, and that we probably did make a significant change to some degree, but as community service goes, you have to question your actual impact sometimes.

That Tuesday afternoon, we said goodbye to our host family (our mom gave us hats!), and we took pictures/exchanged emails.

Left to Right: Augusto, Ana, and Andre

Onto happier things: re-entry into the states.  Here's a list of changes from Peru-life to USA-life that I've noticed.

• The US is so clean.  Modern sanitation (and the ability to flush TP down the toilet) is amazing.
• We can drink tap water. Makes life so much easier
• I miss speaking Spanish to store-owners and people in general
• The US (summer) is so green.
• Supermarkets just rock.
• The skies in Urubamba are just way bluer. No comparison to US skies.
• Dogs have leashes!
• Roads are wide and paved/Drivers are nicer
• Wifi is unbelievably fast
• Having internet 24/7 is a luxury that we don't really realize we have
• I miss mountains

Finally, for all the dukies, or travelers, planning to go to Peru in the future and have stumbled across this blog, I'll leave you with an unofficial packing list of what to bring, but you should check out the rest of this blog to know what to expect.

Bring:

• Warm clothes + layers.  Dress for maximum high of 70 F, minimum of 40 F
• Really warm clothes (if you're going hiking, prep for 20-25 degree F)
• Internal Frame Backpack if you plan on hiking
• Rain jacket/pants (just in case)
• warm hat/socks/gloves
• pack light, because you can always buy alpaca sweaters for cheap
• dSLR if you've got one - Peru's just way pretty.
• clothes to get dirty
• all toiletries (more expensive in Peru)
• quick dry towel
• for guys - ex-officios
• Medicine: Immodium, lots of pepto bismol, 2-3 rounds of Ciprofloxacin (literally a life saver), hand sanitizer, sunblock, aloe vera, band-aids, blister band-aids/moleskin/duct tape.
• Water treatment: a water filter (like MSR Miniworks EX), or treatment tablets would've been great. Parasites suck.
• A good sleeping bag.
• Headlamp
• Leatherman
• ziploc freezer bags
• 3 prong - 2 prong adaptor
• Education: scotch tape, markers, english-spanish teaching book (with pronunciations)

I'll add more if it comes to me, but that's mostly what you should bring if you go to Peru (in the cusco region at least).

#Thanksforreading #blogtastic 

The Emperor's New Groove

So a group of 6 Dukies went on a 5-day hike to Machu Picchu this past Friday through Tuesday. We went on the Salkantay hike, which is a popular alternative to the Inca Trail, since it's easier (but longer). Over the course of 4 days (from our starting point, Mollepata, to the town next to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes), we hiked around 48 miles, which is a lot. The trip turned out to be more luxurious than I had in mind - we had a cook, a porter, and we even got to stay in a hostal our fourth night. The cook and the porter took care of everything campsite-related, and so all we had to do was hike, eat, and sleep! After a long day of hiking, it is pretty nice to not have to set up tents or cook food. We hiked with 5 other people in our group (and our guide as well), and they were from England, California, Lima, and Japan - a pretty fun group. I'm in the process of uploading some 300 pictures from the trip, but I'll break it down in terms of what we did day by day.

Day 1: (20 km hiked, 1000 m elevation gain to 3800 m above sea level)

So we stayed overnight in Cusco on Thursday night, and were picked up bright and early at 5 am by van. We drive for 3 hours, and arrive at Mollepata, our starting town. After a quick breakfast, we start hiking. The climate here was a mountainous one, which was a cool sight to see. The trail was a dirt jeep trail, and there were steep shortcuts through it that we took. After about 7 hours of hiking, we arrived at Soraypampa, our stop for the day. It was near the base of a glacier, but our tents were inside of a shed, so we didn't get extremely cold during the night. 

classic.

Day 2: (25 km hiked, 800 m up to 4600 m, 1800 m down to 2850 m)

We get woken up at 5 am by our cook with steaming hot cups of mate de coca, which is the perfect thing at that hour of the day. After breakfast, we start hiking to the glacier pass, where we can see the Salkantay glacier. The glacier is massive - much more impressive than Chicon. On the way up to the pass was a really steep trail, so reaching the pass at 4600 m was a joyful moment - until we felt the cold. The winds at the pass were freezing (with us being next to a glacier and all), so we quickly started descending. The coolest part of this hike was seeing the micro-climates along the way. Once we descended into the valley, we started seeing a tropical climate (accompanied by rain). It was really bizarre, but really cool. After 8 hours of hiking, we collapsed at Challway, where we spent the night. 

Salkantay in the clouds

Day 3: (16 km hiked, 650 m down to 2200 m)

We again get woken up with coca tea at 5:30 in the morning, and start our hike shortly after breakfast. Still in the tropical-climate, we hiked along a river for most of the day. We found a house along the way that sold passion-fruit straight from the trees along the trail (delicious!), and we saw some avocados and bananas growing right alongside the trail. After a super-easy 4 hour hike, we got to Sahuayaco (2200m), ate lunch, then were bused down to the town of Santa Teresa (1650m), where we stayed the night. From Santa Teresa, we walked about 40 minutes to natural hot springs, where we were able to soak our aching muscles (yay!). 

Suddenly, forest.

Day 4: (16 km hiked, 400 m up to 2050 m)

We had a later start (6:30 am), and hike for 2 hours to Hidro Electrica, where we take a break. Along the way, we saw a pretty snazzy waterfall, and still hiked along the river from earlier (River Salkantay). From Hidro Electrica, we hiked 2 hours along a train track to the town of Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain that Machu Picchu's on. The town is entirely built on tourism, and it was really confusing to have people try to talk to us in English (we can understand your Spanish better!). We had a hostal, and stayed there for the night (hot showers!!). 

When did waterfalls start making milk?

Day 5: (? km hiked, 400+ m climbed)

So we woke up at 7:30 am, and start hiking up the mountain to Machu Picchu at 8:40. The trail up is a series of 1786 steps (more or less), and takes about 1 exhausting hour. We enter Machu Picchu, and get a guided tour of the city, which is pretty cool to hear about. (side note: I saw a group of Whitefish Bay kids at Machu Picchu!) After 2 hours, we get turned loose, and a group of us (5 dukies and the british kid) decide to hike the Machu Picchu mountain. After another exhausting, sweat-dripping (it was really humid) 50 minutes up a trail of steps, we reach the top. From our view, we were higher up than Waynapicchu mountain, and we could see just about everything - Machu Picchu, Waynapicchu, Hidro Electrica, and Aguas Calientes. The view from the top was spectacular, and being on level with the clouds makes you want to be able to just jump off and fly. After all of that, we came back down to Aguas Calientes, and hitched a train to Ollantaytambo, then a bus back to Urubamba. 

The view from Machu Picchu Mountain

I'd like to start making postcards now.

Edit: new photos can be found here.

#wemissedurubamba #youshoulddothis #machupicchuisprettyamazing

G(astronomical) Tour of Cusco!

So our Spanish teacher, Reyner, took us out on a food tour of Cusco instead of Spanish lessons (win!). We first went to a Cebicheria, and we ordered a giant 50 sole platter (for three people) that had ceviche (best I've ever had), Paella, seafood curry-like thing (with mussels), and fried fish/squid.

Spectacular

So after that (my stomach was stuffed to the brim), we walked for a ways until we reached a pasteleria. It looked pretty amazing all around, and it was one of the nicest places I've been in Peru so far. All of us ordered our own cakes (6 soles per slice), and I settled on a traditional Tres Leches cake. Needless to say, it was mouth-wateringly delicious!

Tres Leches

We then went on over to a cafe, where "the best coffee in Peru" was made, according to our teacher. I ordered a black coffee, for tasting, and an espresso, since my food coma was coming on strong. I'm going to have to rate the coffee as good, but not great (best coffee still gets awarded to Blue Bottle drip coffee in San Fran), but the espresso was one of the best I've had. Definitely the best coffee I've had in a while (Peruvians seem to enjoy instant coffee a lot…blech). Para continuar, we went on to a chocolate shop, which specialized in delicious coca chocolate. Nom nom. Finally, we went to get dinner at a place that specialized in cow hearts and intestines grilled on a stick. Upon our teacher's recommendation, I ordered the corazones. Putting aside the fact that they're hearts, they taste pretty good! It's similar to a really savory beef, and meat-lovers would appreciate it, I think. That ended our food tour, and we all went back to Urubamba to nurse our aching stomachs.

Hearts on the right, papas on the left

#somuchfood #goingbackforceviche #cuscoisprettysweet

¡Nos Vemos!

So forgive the lack of posts in the near future - I'm going on the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu for the next five days!  I leave for Cusco tonight, and leave Cusco early tomorrow morning to start the hike.  I'll be getting back Tuesday night I think.  I owe you, my faithful readers, a post on the awesome food tour I took in Cusco yesterday.  Hold me to it.

Back in 5 days.


#excited #ilovehiking #onekiloofanimalcrackers

Hitting the Pavement in Peru

So for those who don't know me, I like running. To make matters more interesting, I like running in these:

Vibram FiveFingers: Bikila

So after 4+ weeks in Peru, I've finally gotten back to running on a semi-normal basis.  Here are some of my observations on running in Peru:

• people don't run a lot around here (unless in sports), so I get a look for that
• Being Taiwanese, I get a look for that
• Wearing somewhat short shorts, I get a look for that
• Running in Vibrams, I get a look for that
• Add up all of the above, and I'm basically a spectacle in the streets

• The air's pretty nice to breathe (once you get used to the altitude - which sucked at the beginning)
• Lots of rocky roads and dirt roads in some areas
• Hills. Everywhere.
• Dogs can try and chase you sometimes (really, really scary when it's a pack), so you try to carry a small rock in your hand and throw it near them if they start chasing you
• The sun makes running around noon almost unbearable (thanks to us being 10000 ft closer to it)

Now, I've started doing something a little more...exerting (read: crazy).  There's a road out of Urubamba that runs to Cuzco, and with Urubamba being in a valley, the road goes up and out of the valley.  Me, being the genius that I am, decided to try and run out of the valley on this road (3 times so far).  It's basically uphill for all of it, some gradual, some decently steep, and if I'm lucky, flat ground.  The farthest I've gone on it was 3 miles up (today!), and yeah, it's pretty high (I didn't even get out of the valley).  Besides getting to be really good at running uphill, the best part about this route is seeing the reaction of the people driving on it.  I get honked at, I see faces which can only mean "what is this chino doing all the way up on this road???", I see bewilderment and smiles, and an occasional shout out ("amigo!" "Chino!").  Hopefully this running (read: craziness) translates well when I get back home.

#theviewisworthit #crazygringo #imadesomanypeoplesdays

¡Festival for Sr. de Torrechayoc!

Wiped.

There's been 2 days of festival for Señor de Torrechayoc (who is more or less Jesus).  There's so much that just happened, but let me see if I can't break it down in a list.

• Bands like practicing at 4 in the morning
• Fireworks go off every 5 minutes or so
• Urubamba is packed
• Sr. de Torrechayoc's face is plastered everywhere
• 42 groups are dancing throughout the streets
• Colors and costumes galore! (lots with masks)
• Start from 7 am to late night
• Everyone's getting drunk
• Apparently people save up $ all year for this one festival
• Can someone say religiously themed?

There's so much that went on, I think I'll just go ahead and do narrating through pictures.  (Currently uploading some 350 pictures, but some 350 pictures from the weekend can be found here starting around #630)

#allfestivaledout #somanycolors #wow #peruvianscanthrowdown

Café con Queso

So my Spanish teacher (Reyner) took me to an Italian Panaderia instead of having a lesson. We had really awesome pizza, and a little something known as café con queso (Peruvian origins of several hundred years). So the coffee at the panaderia was spot on (served in individual French presses) and quite possibly the best I've had yet in Peru. However, it wasn't complete. We got thin slices of Queso Andino (Andean Cheese), and dropped it into the coffee, and kept on drinking. Surprisingly, the flavor doesn't change at all, and so you finish the coffee. When you're done, you eat the cheese that remains at the bottom! The queso gets a different texture (more smooth I guess), and it takes on a coffee flavor, and it's pretty interesting. Personally, I kinda like it, but you should try it for yourself.

Upon adding the queso

After drinking the coffee, this is what's left

Café con Queso


-Super-hot coffee
-thin-ish slices of cheese cut into sizable chunks (Cheddar apparently works well).


-Add cheese to coffee while super hot
-Continue to drink coffee
-Eat cheese when done



#onlyforthebrave #TwoOfmyfavoritethings #tryit

What can 20 soles ($7.22) get you?

• 20 chocolate bars 
• 40 ice cream cones 
• 20/40 bags of chips 
• 5 liters of yogurt 
• 4 gloves 
• 2-3 hats 
• 2 scarves 
• 15 liters of water 
• 100 pieces of bread

#isntlifegrand

Manjar Blanco (spread of the land of milk and honey)

So there's this amazing spread here called Manjar Blanco.  It's made from sugar and milk, and I can buy it from La Salle (yay!).  According to Wikipedia,

It refers to a set of similar dishes traditionally made by slowly and gently cooking pure (normally non-homogenized) milk to thicken and reduce the volume, and gradually adding sugar...The result is a white or cream-colored, thick spread with a consistency much like that of a thick cake frosting although the flavor is more like that of sweetened cream. 

The simplest way to make manjar blanco is by boiling an intact tin of condensed milk in water for about an hour. On opening the boiled tin, we could see that the condensed milk thickens, darkens and turns into a yellowish light-brown paste that looks like peanut butter (but not as viscous as the latter). Manjar blanco is widely used in Peru as a bread spread and as cake frosting and filling.

 Number one on my "make this when back home" list.

#sogood #youshouldmakethistoo #peruvianfoodrocks

Week in Review

Hey everyone, it's been a busy week, so I'm just going to cram everything into one post.

School:

711 school

-This week, we taught water/air pollution, and we used a jug of water to demonstrate tragedy of the commons, in which each student pollutes a clean jug of water with a spoonful of trash/dirt/oil.

-6B has cemented itself as my favorite class, they're so cute!

La Salle

-Made liquid fertilizer: cow/chicken feces, fish/chicken heads, chicken guts, water, chicha, yeast, corn bits, sugar - it gets to sit for three months and ferment!

-Pigs are cute

A little piglet trying to get some water

-There's lots of poo. Everywhere.

Life

-My birthday in Peru was cool, I got to go see the Ollantaytambo ruins and the Pisac ruins/market (So Cool!  The market is fantastic)

Pisac ruins

-There is this amazing cereal type thing here - think life cereal (or frosted mini wheats without the frosted), except that it's filled with chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry filling (amazingly good)

-The stars here are so amazingly bright, and the sky is clear as can be. Go Peru.

Starry Night.

#inlovewithPeru #inlovewithperuvianfood

food and dogs (aww yeah)

So there are lots of stray dogs here. They're often dirty, and some are sad, while some are happy, but all are super adorable. I think that by the end of this trip, I'll be able to have a slideshow of only stray dogs in Peru. They're everywhere, something would be amiss to walk a block and not see one or more strays. Like I said, they're all super cute (if you go "aww" when seeing a dog, this is the place for you)

A stray in Cuzco

Now onto food. OH my god the food. It's amazing, and well, incredible comes incredibly short of describing how good the food is here. Meals traditionally consist of a light breakfast, with tea (mate de coca leaves is the predominant tea here. It's sooooo good, especially with some brown sugar), light bread, and either jam or what's called jamonaba (I think, it's kinda like balogne, but made with pollo). Lunch and dinner are pretty similar, with lunch being the bigger meal. There's usually a starter dish, which can be soup (of mushrooms, chicken, kimwah) or an appetizer (like potatoes y queso). After the starter, there is the main entree, which can vary, but usually consists of a meat or vegetable dish that's accompanied by pasta or rice. After that, comes dessert, which is usually either a drink, or gelatin/flan. One of the different things here is that in restaurants, they serve drinks after the starter and entree. I'm starting to become accustomed to drinking mate tea after meals now.

Two of the most common things one can eat here will be chicken and potatoes. There are hundreds of  varieties of potatoes in Peru, and chickens are just about everywhere, so it's generally the predominant meat eaten here - there are lots of polerias (chicken restaurants) in the city. The potatoes are different too. Potatoes, corn (which has gigantic kernels here, think the size of a blueberry per kernel), and rice all have a starchier taste here, which is pretty interesting. Some of the potatoes are what we're accustomed to, but some have a more powdery and starchy kind of taste - I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan of that kind just yet. Everything here is just more fresh - the juice, the meat, the vegetables, etc. This morning, Chris and I were served plantain juice by our host mom, and it was maybe the best juice I've ever had. The chicken here is so fresh, since the people keep and kill them at home. There's basically a whole coop by my host casa, and that would explain why the chicken I had last night was absolutely delicious and fresh. If you like chicken, come to Peru.

Arroz con Pollo

#nom #gettingfat #sogood #dogsarecute

Customs and such (what to do in Peru)

Now that I've been in Peru for a few days, I feel like I can comment on a few customs here that differ from the US.

• In greetings, there are two different customs. When greeting guy to guy, you shake hands, as per usual. When greeting a woman, regardless of your gender, you kiss their right cheek. When entering a room full of people, it's customary to greet everyone in the room, otherwise it's rude. 
• In eating, if people are served before you, it's customary for them to start eating immediately, otherwise it's considered rude to the chef. 
• In using el baño, you have to put used toilet paper into the trashbin instead of the toilet - I don't think the septic system can handle it. 
• In speaking, I think that Peruvians drop their 's' quite a bit. For example, instead of "Buenas noches," it's pronounced more like "buena noche" It may be just me though
• In habits, at least what I've experienced from my host family, if there's a situation in which you can't really do much, you kinda shrug your shoulders and say "oof-e" 
• In traffic customs, you do not get the right of way. If you get in the way of a car, the car will accelerate, instead of slowing down. Thus, crossing the streets in Cuzco is kind of like frogger - cross the streets when it's clear, and hope no one will clip you. 

#queinteresante

aaaand we're back!

It looks like blogger's been down for the past few days, and kinda erased all of my formatting. Oh well...

Since I haven't had much internet access over the past few days, there will be a quadruple post coming up. (whoa there)  So upon arriving to Cuzco by plane, I awoke to see mountains everywhere. To paraphrase Neil, one of the Dukies, "walking from the plane was one of the coolest experiences I've had." We soon arrived to the hotel, and explored the city - the architecture is amazing, and the city as a whole is simply breathtaking. I'll do my best to upload a slideshow of Cuzco when I have better internet access (y más tiempo). The city is fairly large, pretty urban, maybe like a smaller city in China. Every 5 meters in one of the main plazas, you can find people selling postcards, paintings, dolls, knockoff ray-bans, etc. It's not uncommon to some cities outside of los EEUU I guess.

A building near the main plaza in Cuzco

As always, exploring a new city is exciting, and Cuzco is just excellent - there's so much to do! ProPeru took us on a trolley ride that went around the outskirts of Cuzco, and we ended up at the Cristo Blanco - a giant white statue of Christ that overlooks Cuzco. From the top, the view is breathtaking. Also, there are llamas. everywhere. It's awesome. Then this past Friday, we went to go explore ruins close to Cuzco, like Saqsaywaman. Calling it one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen cannot do this place justice. The highest point of the ruins were at about 3800 meters, so these sights were literally breathtaking. The mountains, the sky, the sun, the moon - all are so visible and crisp!

Inca Ruins near Cuzco

 

Speaking of the sun, it's incredibly strong here - sunscreen is just about a must. Since we're at 10,000+ feet above sea level, the sun is closer by a significant amount. The high altitude is not that problematic, except when you're exerting yourself. There's less oxygen at this altitude, and you definitely notice it when climbing stairs - you get out of breath much faster and can feel light-headed at times. The weather in Cuzco is kinda cold - it is winter here after all, and if you think of Durham in the fall, that's about accurate. It's about 60+ in the daytime, but can get pretty cold at night (50s and below). Hopefully this gives a general idea of what the Cuzco experience is, and there's definitely a lot that I glossed over, but I'll come to it later.

#isthisreallife #perurocks